Finding Your Voice in Healthcare Leadership: How Communication, Culture, and Simple Systems Drive Real Outcomes
Featuring insights from keynote speaker and executive coach Alexia Vernon, CEO of Step Into Your Moxie
Healthcare is full of complexity; denials rising, burnout spiking, and patients scoping you out online before they ever step into a clinic. In that environment, finding your voice in healthcare leadership isn’t about inspirational speeches. It’s about whether healthcare organizations can rely on leaders and healthcare workers with the communication skills required to operate in a constantly shifting landscape.
Your ability to communicate effectively, with clarity, empathy, and influence, is not a “soft skill.” It is a leading indicator of operational performance, patient care, job satisfaction, team cohesion, and long-term growth. In healthcare organizations, communication, culture, and simple systems are how leadership, operations, and strategy show up every day.
I mean think about it: if you can't communicate a treatment plan effectively, why would a patient come back? And if they don't come back, how can you help them? Or if you can't effectively communicate to employees, how can you ever give them the kind of feedback that enables them to grow and develop?
In a recent All Things LOCS podcast episode, executive coach and keynote speaker Alexia Vernon unpacked what it really takes for healthcare providers and healthcare professionals to speak up, align healthcare teams, and create psychological safety that improves outcomes. As she put it:
“Most folks…have what I refer to as an on-again, off-again relationship with their voice.”
This blog distills her most actionable ideas into a playbook for healthcare leaders, health care workers, and team members—spanning leadership, operations, culture, and strategy—and turns them into steps you can implement tomorrow.
Why Your Voice Is a Strategic Asset in Healthcare Organizations
Many people assume great communicators are simply confident. But effective communication in healthcare organizations requires something far deeper: situational awareness and ethical influence.
Alexia describes her work with Step Into Your Moxie this way:
“I really think of Step Into Your Moxie…as that conduit to help individuals—and organizations—create cultures where people are able to speak up and influence in a way that works better for them…and ethically moves people to take action.”
In healthcare, your voice is a strategic asset because it sits at the intersection of:
Leadership and decision-making
Operations and workflows
Culture, trust, and psychological safety
Strategy, growth, and patient care
When healthcare professionals don’t have a reliable way of finding their voice, healthcare organizations pay the price: poor communication, confusion, rework, turnover, , a negative affect with patient outcome and missed opportunities.
The “On-Again, Off-Again” Voice Problem
Even seasoned healthcare providers and health care teams lose their footing when the stakes rise. You’ve felt it; your message is technically correct, but it lands flat with your team. You deliver the update but no one engages.
Alexia calls this the “on-again, off-again relationship with your voice.”
“It might feel like everything is perfectly fine in terms of delivery, but there’s no humanity behind the information…It might as well be ChatGPT delivering that content.”
The gap between what you say and what people feel is where:
Trust is earned or eroded
Conflict is surfaced or buried
Decisions are implemented or quietly resisted
Outcomes are improved or stagnate
For healthcare teams, proper communication becomes a performance multiplier. Finding your voice in healthcare leadership means closing this gap intentionally and not accidentally.
Authenticity Isn’t About You; It’s About Impact
Healthcare leaders are often told to “just be authentic,” but Alexia offers a deeper reframe:
“Authenticity suggests communication is about me… If I want you to do something different as a result of my communication…authenticity has nothing to do with you.”
Authenticity absolutely matters. However, impact matters more, especially for healthcare teams and healthcare providers guiding high-stakes decisions.
The shift is this:
Stay rooted in who you are
But design your message for the other person’s world
Effective communication practices require adapting to the other person’s vocabulary, concerns, motivations, and mental load. This is not about putting on a performance. It’s about an ethical influence that improves teamwork and patient care.
“Kind and Candid” > “Kind or Candid”
Healthcare workers tend to default to one of two extremes:
Candid but harsh – direct, but team members shut down
Kind but vague – supportive, but nothing changes
Alexia argues that the best leaders are kind and candid:
“Most of us lean either to candid or to kind. And the best communication…is a fusion of both.”
For healthcare organizations, this balance is where real safety, feedback, job satisfaction, and operational clarity live; which all leads to psychological safety. You want employees to improve their skills. However, that won't happen if you don't know how to deliver feedback in a meaningful way.
Kind and candid conversations don't just apply to employees. Some times you have to have the "difficult conversation" with a patient, and if you don't know how to deliver your message effectively, you can create some serious consequences with the patient; one that might lead to them not coming back to treat with you.
Psychological Safety: The Hidden KPI Behind Patient Care
Psychological safety impacts patient outcome
We measure productivity, throughput, and reimbursements, but few healthcare organizations measure psychological safety, even though it profoundly shapes patient care, team performance, and retention.
Ok, first and foremost, what is psychological safety? Psychological safety is a shared belief within a team or organization that it’s safe to speak up, whether with ideas, questions, mistakes, concerns, or feedback, without fear of embarrassment, punishment, or retaliation.
In healthcare, psychological safety means:
Staff feel safe asking questions
Team members can admit errors early
Clinicians can speak up about concerns
Leaders welcome difficult truths
Patients feel comfortable asking clarifying questions
Patients evaluate more than your medical expertise. They evaluate:
The tone of the first phone call
How healthcare providers enter the room
Whether they feel rushed or heard
How comfortable they feel asking “one more question”
Alexia highlights:
“The ability for a patient to ask questions…and to have psychological safety and trust actually does impact outcomes.”
The 30-Second Safety Window
When you ask, “Any questions?” and get silence, it doesn’t mean there are none.
“Our nervous systems are jacked up… Sometimes it can take a moment to come back into our bodies to find the words.”
Effective communication practices that solve this:
Pause intentionally
Soften your nonverbals
Normalize time:
“We have time—take a minute.”
When healthcare teams create this safety window, they open the door to timely course correction. Minor documentation discrepancies, near misses, and early warning signs are voiced immediately, allowing leaders and clinicians to address problems before they escalate.
This not only prevents egregious errors but also enhances workflow reliability, reduces rework, and reinforces a culture where patient care is proactively protected rather than reactively repaired.
Humanizing Data: Turning Numbers Into Decisions (and Hope)
Leaders love metrics. But many healthcare workers and patients need meaning and not spreadsheets. No patient wants to hear bad news, which makes the way we deliver information very strategic.
Alexia asks:
“How can you take those numbers and turn them into stories that move people to take action?”
With Patients:
Pair statistics with lived outcomes:
“Within six months, Roger was golfing again.”
“By next summer, she was traveling with her family.”
This helps patients understand what’s possible and benefits patient care without offering false hope.
With Teams:
When rolling out new systems:
Don’t say: “We need this for compliance.”
Say: “This reduces callbacks, prevents medication errors, and saves time.”
When healthcare teams receive proper communication, they adopt new systems faster and more consistently. And when patients receive proper communication, they are more likely to adhere to treatment plans and get a positive outcome.
Executive Presence in Healthcare Organizations
Executive presence is not about posture or polish. Alexia reframes it as:
“It’s not about proving our credibility. It comes back to people trusting us, feeling it’s safe to tell us information we may not want to hear.”
In healthcare teams, executive presence means:
People share the truth
Feedback flows upward
Healthcare providers feel safe raising concerns
Team members engage instead of hiding
Teach Leaders to Give Coach-Level Feedback
Instead of labeling someone as “not productive,” Vernon suggests:
“If they knew how to do it, they’d probably be doing it… Co-create a solution…and ask, ‘What are you taking away?’”
This approach improves team performance, strengthens relationships, and dramatically increases job satisfaction.
The 5 Competencies of Vocal Empowerment
Vernon’s five competencies help healthcare professionals and health care teams communicate effectively under pressure:
1. Inner Voice
Replace rumination with cues that steady you.
2. Physiological Regulation
Use breath and posture to regulate your nervous system.
3. Messaging
Make messages simple, relevant, and story-anchored.
4. Presence
Match your tone, pace, posture, and expression to the outcome.
5. Action Design
Guide people toward a clear next step.
These competencies strengthen communication skills and build confidence across healthcare organizations.
Role-Play That Works: From “Cringe” to Culture Change
One of the greatest ways to train employees with regards to skill development is role playing, However, traditional role-play fails because it’s unstructured. Alexia uses a theater-informed method that gives healthcare teams immediate insight into effective communication practices:
A facilitator plays the “difficult other”
Difficulty adjusts in real time
Everyone observes what works—and what doesn’t
This strengthens communication skills across entire healthcare teams.
How to Implement
2–3 minute reps
Focus on one variable at a time
Name helpful behaviors
Add winning phrases to scripts and SOPs
Role-play becomes a communication tool that transforms culture; not a cringe activity. Now, while it's crucial to understand how to role play, I would also add that it is important that you practice consistency so employees can actually improve.
Building a Speak-Up Culture (That Also Reduces Rework)
When leaders say, “We don’t have conflict,” it usually means this:
Conflict is happening
Just not in front of them
“They think conflict isn’t happening—it’s just not happening when they’re in the room.”
Three Rituals That Strengthen Health Care Teams
The Two-Question Huddle
“What made care smoother today?”
“What friction point can we improve this week?”
Curiosity-First One-on-Ones
“Tell me something you’re noticing that we could do better.”
Feedback as Design
Prototype → test → measure → iterate.
These rituals build effective communication, transparency, and alignment—improving job satisfaction and benefiting patient care.
Patient Experience Is an Operations Strategy
Patient experience isn’t a slogan. It’s an operational discipline. Reviews, which are crucial for company brand, reflect more than clinical skill; they reflect communication skills. Patients don't care that you graduated from Harvard. They care that you can speak to them with empathy and understanding, and that you are confident that you can help them.
“Being a phenomenal surgeon alone is no longer enough.”
Scripts That Don’t Sound Scripted
Phone: “Hi, I’m [Name]. I can help. What’s been going on?”
Room Entry: “What’s the most important question you want answered today?”
Close: “Here’s what happens next. Message us if anything comes up.”
Proper patient communication isn't just a should; it's a must. And it's one that needs to be on-point throughout the entirety of the patient care journey.
AI, Atrophy, and the Return to Human Skills
As more documentation moves to AI, live communication skills weaken in healthcare workers. And it's not just about AI itself, either. Younger clinicians have grown up on tech and have had their communication skills greatly effected negatively.
“When they have to communicate face to face… the ability to do that well is atrophy.”
The solution isn’t avoiding AI—it’s reinforcing human communication tools:
Micro-role-plays
Debriefs
Reflection rituals
This keeps healthcare teams sharp.
Career Insurance for “Next-In-Line” Leaders
These communication skills determine promotability for healthcare professionals:
“It’s one of the number one things employees are hired for, and one of the number one things employees are fired for.”
Start now:
Ask curiosity-driven questions
Use breath–pause–eye contact
Turn feedback into co-created plans
Tell one story per week that humanizes a metric
This strengthens leadership readiness across health care workers and emerging leaders.
Voices That Change Outcomes: A Final Word
Vernon’s personal health journey shaped her belief in communication’s impact:
“The thing that’s always dictated what that experience felt like was communication…”
In healthcare:
Communication is care
Communication is culture
Communication is operations
Communication is growth
When healthcare teams use effective communication practices and simple systems that make proper communication easier, healthcare organizations:
Reduce rework
Elevate patient care
Improve job satisfaction
Strengthen operations
Retain talent
Improve outcomes
Or, as Alexia says:
“When your systems support your people, your people support your growth.”
FAQ: Communication & Leadership in Healthcare Settings
1. How does improving communication help prevent communication gaps and communication breakdowns in a medical or hospital setting?
Improving communication, whether through verbal communication, written communication, and nonverbal communication, creates consistency across handoffs, huddles, and treatment plan discussions.
When healthcare workers and other team members use structured communication tools and active listening, communication gaps shrink and communication breakdowns become far less likely, even in high-pressure healthcare settings.
2. Why is strong verbal, nonverbal, and written communication essential for patient confidentiality and safe patient care?
In any medical setting, communication must be clear, precise, and aligned. Strong verbal communication and body language help prevent misunderstandings during patient interactions, while proper written communication ensures documentation supports patient confidentiality and accurate treatment plan execution.
Nonverbal communication, such as tone and presence, also reinforces trust and clarity between healthcare providers and patients.
3. What role do communication leads and shared governance play in improving communication across healthcare teams?
Communication leads help coordinate messaging, close communication gaps, and ensure information flows consistently between departments and other team members. When combined with shared governance, teams have a structured process for decision making, feedback, and operational clarity.
This collaborative environment dramatically improves communication and reduces friction across healthcare settings and hospital settings.
4. How does resource management influence communication and decision making processes in healthcare organizations?
Effective resource management ensures that staff, tools, and time are allocated in ways that support strong communication practices. When workloads are balanced and teams have the bandwidth to engage, decision making processes become more thoughtful, communication breakdowns decrease, and healthcare professionals can collaborate more effectively on treatment plans and patient care.
5. Why is active listening considered a core skill for healthcare providers and other team members?
Active listening enables healthcare providers to fully understand patient concerns, catch early warning signs, confirm understanding of treatment plans, and reduce errors caused by assumptions.
In high-stress healthcare settings, active listening also strengthens teamwork, builds trust, and enhances safety by ensuring that everyone, including patients, feels heard and respected.
6. How does body language and nonverbal communication impact teamwork and patient interactions in hospital and clinical environments?
Body language, such as eye contact, posture, tone, and facial expression, signals safety, confidence, and respect. In a hospital setting or medical setting, nonverbal communication often shapes how patients interpret instructions and how other team members interpret urgency, clarity, and leadership. Misaligned nonverbal cues can undermine even the most accurate verbal communication.
7. Why are communication tools important for reducing errors and improving the consistency of treatment plans across healthcare organizations?
Communication tools such as structured huddles, standardized phrases, communication boards, and shared documentation workflows create alignment across healthcare teams.
These tools help capture critical information, reduce variability between providers, and ensure that treatment plans are followed consistently. When communication tools are used well, communication breakdowns decrease and patient care improves.
If your team is feeling the strain of communication gaps or unclear workflows, you don’t need to navigate it alone.
Connect with Alexia to strengthen your communication systems, elevate patient care, and support the people who make your organization run.
Want to dive deeper into how communication transforms leadership, operations, and patient outcomes? Connect with us and join the next conversation on All Things LOCS.
